Survey of Job Openings in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area: Week of October 25, 1993

The week of October 25, 1993, an estimated 11,699 full-time and 12,930 part-time jobs were
open for immediate hire in the four-county Milwaukee metropolitan area. These 24,629 job
openings are the result of a number of factors including seasonal fluctuations, company
expansions, labor shortages in difficult to fill positions, as well as normal turnover among the
753,700 workers in the metro area due to retirements, resignations and firings. The job openings
estimates are based on a survey of Milwaukee area employers conducted by the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee Employment and Training Institute and Social Science Research Facility.

The number of job openings in the Milwaukee metropolitan area fluctuates over time. In
October employers were seeking slightly fewer full-time workers (11,699, compared to 11,870
openings in May 1993) but had more part-time job openings than in May (12,930, compared to
9,277).

Retail and wholesale trade accounted for an estimated 2,000 additional part-time job
openings in October 1993 compared to May 1993 job openings.

For the metropolitan area, 46 percent of the full-time job openings paid health insurance
and were adequate to support a family of four above poverty, 61 percent of the job openings
paid health insurance and were adequate to support a family of three, and 76 percent paid health
insurance and were adequate to support a family of two.

Nearly half of job openings were in small companies. Forty-seven percent of full-time
job openings and 45 percent of part-time openings were in companies which had employed fewer
than 20 workers.

The largest numbers of full-time job openings were split among service companies (34
percent of total full-time job openings), retail and wholesale trade (25 percent) and
manufacturing (20 percent). Part-time job openings were concentrated in retail and wholesale
trade (51 percent of part-time job openings) and in services (30 percent).

Over two-thirds of the full-time openings required education, training or occupation-
specific experience beyond high school, while two-thirds of part-time job openings did not.
Positions requiring no previous education or experience were twice as likely to be part-time as
openings for persons with some education or experience.

Full-time jobs in service occupations accounted for almost half of openings available to
individuals with less than high school completion. Most factory, crafts and transportation jobs
required experience, license or occupation-specific training.

One-half of full-time and 40 percent of part-time jobs were identified by employers as
difficult to fill. Those full-time jobs requiring a college degree, license, certification, associate
degree or occupation-specific training were more likely to be difficult-to-fill positions. Sixty
percent of the part-time jobs identified as difficult to fill paid less than $6.00 per hour, and over
half required no previous experience or training.

The 11,699 full-time job openings available the week of October 25, 1993, represented
about 20 percent of jobs needed for the estimated 51,000 - 53,000 persons seeking or expected
to work that month. If part-time and full-time job openings are combined, the total of 24,629
jobs represented less than half of jobs needed for the Milwaukee metro population.